22 May 2012

The Good City - Visions for a City on the Move

If you're wondering about the sporadic publishing here on the blog over the past while, it's simply because we have so many exciting projects on the go around the world at Copenhagenize Consulting.

One of the projects has been preparing our offering for the upcoming exhbition The Good City - Visions for a City on the Move, which the Bicycle Innovation Lab is curating. The exhibition opens on June 8th in Copenhagen, the first stop on a world tour.

It's an exciting exhibition. We're presenting our own vision from here at the company but we are also curating the vision from a third-grade class at LaCour Vej School. Nine and ten year old urbanists. They have been working hard on the redesign of the roundabout next to their school.

Here's the spiel about the exhibition from Bicycle Innovation Lab:
THE GOOD CITY
MINI-CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION

Friday the 8th of June at 12 o'clock, Bicycle Innovation Lab will inaugurate the international traveling exhibition The Good City. To herald the opening of the exhibition and the issues behind it, a mini-conference will be held the same day at the Danish Architecture Centre from 9.00 to 12.30. The exhibition runs from June 8th to July 8th.

“The world loves us. Copenhagen is a constant source of inspiration for cities around the planet, not least because of our bicycle culture, which has peaked at 37% of our citizens on bicycles. Our politicians have promised us that 50% of Copenhageners will use the bike in 2010... then 2012... then 2015 and now 2025. Since the promises were made, cycling levels have fallen to 35%. Copenhagen is the only city in the western world where cycling levels are falling, not rising.”

With these words, international bicycle culture consultant Mikael Colville-Andersen, of Copenhagenize Consulting, pinpoints the notion of Copenhagen as a pioneer in the field of cycling and urban development. Despite all good intentions and strategies, it has proven difficult to motivate an additional 15% of Copenhageners to choose the bicycle.

With The Good City exhibition, we seek to reverse this negative trend and inspire new visions and action. We have asked a number of prominent Danish and international architects, traffic planners, city planners, researchers and organisations to guide us toward the goal of 50% of people on bicycles, at the same time transforming Copenhagen into a better city to live in.

The Exhibition
Official opening and reception on Friday, June 8th from 12.00 to 15.00 In Havnegaden – around No. 3, 1058 Copenhagen K.

The Good City exhibition is designed on a series of posters, with graphics and text portraying the history of Danish cycling, and how we imagine the city can further develop this tradition.

The exhibition is located outdoors at the new waterfront park on Port Street at the Custom House from June 8th to June 22nd and at Amagerbro Square from June 22nd to July 8th. Thereafter the exhibition will be an international traveling exhibition.

In preparation for the exhibition, we will hold a mini-conference that focuses on Copenhagen as a Bicycle City. Bicycle Culture in Copenhagen has become one of the city's major international brands. When it comes to cycling, Copenhagen is so far advanced that there is no turning back. But can we continue to be one of the world's most innovative cycling cities if we fail to develop and innovate our city and bicycle culture? There is a strong focus on increasing the number of cyclists, but how do we move from an abstract idea to reach that definitive goal? How do we create an innovative bicycle culture? And how can it be combined with concrete steps towards a better city?

To reflect on this we have invited four speakers:

• Architect for the City of Copenhagen, Tina Saaby works with architecture policy, which places emphasis on the sustainable city as a place with room for diversity, more bikes and more life between houses.

• International urban mobility consultant Mikael Colville-Andersen, of Copenhagenize Consulting,works to create and promote bicycle culture in cities around the world.

• Researcher in mobility behavior and the modern everyday life Malene Freudendal-Pedersen from Roskilde University who among other things, works on sustainable mobility as a possible future utopia.

• Project leader and one of the instigators of Bicycle Innovation Lab, Lasse Schelde, works with new ways to develop and promote bicycle culture in Copenhagen and internationally.

Participants will be asked about their own innovative task. The presentations will be followed by a visit to The Good City exhibition. After the program has officially ended, there will be a reception with time for refreshments and discussion.

You can register for the conference by sending an email to minikonference@bicycleinnovationlab.dk no later than June 2nd with name, contact info, and company and position. Participation is free, however any cancellations must be reported no later than Monday June 4th or a fee of DKK 150 will be charged for catering.

Kilometres cycled by Copenhageners so far today

Copenhagenize.com is the blog of Copenhagenize Design Company. Online since 2007 and highlighting the cycling life in Copenhagen and around the world.

40 years ago Copenhagen was just as car-clogged as anywhere else but now 41% of the population arriving at work or education do so on bicycles, from all over the Metro area. 56% of Copenhageners themselves use bicycles each day. They all use over 1000 km of bicycle lanes in Greater Copenhagen for their journeys. Copenhagenizing is possible anywhere.